LLCEO Class of 2020 endures a very unusual year

 

[June 01, 2020] 

The Land of Lincoln CEO Class of 2020 had some big shoes to fill as the fifth graduating class from the special program. Students were looking forward to spending time working together for the annual tradeshow and had a lot in store for visitors when the event occurred this year at the Lincoln American Legion Post 263.

However, this group faced challenges that no other class has had to face and they have now pulled it off very well.

When schools closed in March, the class was in limbo for only a moment. Then facilitator Britta Langley and members of the LLCEO Board of Directors worked quickly to put together a plan that would enable students to continue their education from the safety of their homes.

The hope was that come May, the students would still be able to conduct their tradeshow. For that end goal, they had to stay on track with their training and preparations.

Unfortunately, the tradeshow had to be canceled. Known to draw a large crowd, the tradeshow had to go to the wayside due to restrictions against gatherings of people in public.

“My initial thought about Covid-19 affecting LLCEO was immediate stress,” said student Baylee Young. “I knew how much more difficult things were going to be, but I was also sad. I was sad knowing that we weren’t going to be able to go on anymore business visits and I really enjoyed getting to know more people in my local community.”

The students at LLCEO attend special classes in addition to their daily class schedules at their respective high schools. The business visits happen before or after school. For many of the students, they felt the same disappointment as Baylee. The opportunities to hear from local business owners gives them insight to the daily challenges of managing a business. But at the same time, these kids were experiencing daily challenges that while perhaps annoying, were also going to enhance their CEO experience as they learned to cope with adverse circumstances.

They also had the advantage of still getting to learn from business owners in a virtual world. Among those they visited from the safety of their homes were Kathie Williams of Small Town Creations and Jennifer Keith, CEO of Keith Technology & Educational Consulting.

Keith talked to them about finding humor in their lives and also working that humor into their professional presentations. For some, Keith provided a stress relief as she talked to the students and helped them figure out how to laugh at a difficult situation.

Williams had met with the kids prior to the shutdown and then visited with them again after the shutdown. She talked to them about the difficulties small businesses faced when their doors were closed by the pandemic and gave them insight into coping with what lay ahead.

Before the shutdown, students did get plenty of opportunities for tours and face-to-face experiences with local business owners. Included on the list of those that they visited were Holland Barry Bennet Funeral Home, Jake’s Furniture, Christian Village, and Abe’s Carmelcorn Shoppe.

“Abe’s Carmelcorn was my favorite because the owners actually talked about opening a storefront, moving locations, balancing stock, and running the books,” said student Connor Noreuil. “They were by far one of the most well prepared businesses. After dealing with business owners that only wanted to tell their life story, or didn’t even go into the actual operation of the business, Abe’s Carmelcorn was very refreshing and insightful.”

Throughout the school year, the students had an assigned mentor. For some of the students those mentors became especially invaluable when schools closed.

Baylee Young appreciated all that her mentor did. “My mentor was Sarah Stuart. She helped guide me the right way, gave me opinions and advice based on my ideas, she always listened! The most important lesson I learned from Sarah was to not give up. She taught me to not get overwhelmed and stressed when things fail, get up and keep trying until you become successful.”

“I had Patrick Doolin, who helped me to grow as a leader by showing the importance of taking care of your team as a whole,” said Connor Noreuil. “Because he himself is a leader not only in his business, but in the community, he really helped me to understand some of those team-building aspects.”

As the students moved forward, the last quarter of the school year was primarily focused on getting their small business set up and preparing for the trade show. When they learned that the tradeshow was going to take on a different look in 2020 some were relieved and some were a little more stressed over it.

The plan became for the students to move forward with developing their business plans, creating their product or service and then presenting it digitally. They did live streaming presentations to a panel. Each one had an allotted time slot to fill, and the presentations were spread across three days.

The first virtual presentation day was held on Wednesday April 29th.

On the schedule for that day were:

• Connor Noreuil--- Connor’s Custom Tees

• Teagan Wyss---Wyss Residential Air Quality Testing

• Baylee Young---Pads & Paws

• Luke Doolin---LincNet

• Josh Wright---Wooden Wonders

On April 30th the presenters included:

• Grace Frye--- Grace Smacks

• Ruthie Ruhl---RR Equestrian Jumps & Training

• Annagrace Keller---Repurposed Designs by Anna

• Eli Hewitt---Nothing Fancy

The third and final day, Friday May 1st presenters were:

• Bayleigh Gillum--- BG Photography

• Moriah Prather---Milk & Cookies Bakery

• Mia Young---Built to Better Tutoring

• Chase Mayberry---Maybands

Chase Mayberry commented on the experience of preparing and participating in a virtual tradeshow. “My greatest concern was the inconsistent connection to the internet, finding a place to set up my booth, deciding whether or not to spend money on a small business during a pandemic”

Grace Frye had the same concerns over the internet connections and also worried, “I wouldn’t understand them or they wouldn’t understand me,” referring to the panel. But in the end she was happy with the presentation and the interaction. “It was good, they asked good questions and I understood what they were saying.”

Looking back on the overall experiences of the year Connor Noreuil offered his perspective and overview.

“Overall, it was an experience. There were definitely lows, such as nearly bombing our group business. But there were highs as well, such as the very successful turnout at our group business. I do have mixed emotions about the class. As someone who doesn’t have all these business connections, it was great getting out there and meeting some of the community leaders. I really enjoyed some of them and how they presented their ideas and critiques. I also met a couple really good friends through the class, who I probably would’ve never met had I not taken the class.

“I knew signing up for the class that it was going to be a commitment and a lot of driving due to where I live. I was prepared for this, however as the year went on, this became much more of a struggle. It was hard finding motivation to spend the time, energy, and gas early in the morning for this class.

Noreuil concluded, “The CEO program is definitely an investment, and good for students set on a business path. This class isn’t really to be taken lightly in the sense that it will consume a large amount of your time, energy, and money. Despite some of my complaints about the class, I don’t regret taking it.”

Baylee Young commented. “I loved absolutely everything about CEO. I think that it was a great experience and I’m glad I was able to participate. I will also be recommending this class to any student I know that is interested in business.”

LLCEO Board member Kristi Powell offered up words of praise for the students and their facilitator Britta Langley for enduring through a tough end of the school year and prevailing.

“The school year did not end as expected for the young entrepreneurs in the Land of Lincoln CEO class of 2020,” noted Powell. “However, these business people & their facilitator tackled the challenge of virtually connecting, learning and completing the culminating task of every CEO class: the individual business. Out of the chaos emerged thirteen new business that reflect the passion and individualism of their owners. The entire LLCEO Board was proud of the way in which the students and facilitator adapted to the challenging times with determination and grace.

“Although not ideal,” said Powell, “the virtual Trade Show gave the students an opportunity to share their new businesses in a way that allowed the audience to see their dedication and resolve. We look forward to seeing them grow in the future.”

Facilitator Langley also had strong praise for her class of 2020. “It was a crazy year to say the least, but my students have shown great courage, adaptability, strength, and endurance to continue their success as an entrepreneur and finish strong in their CEO experience. I am extremely proud of them. They got to see firsthand that being a business owner comes with all sorts of challenges good and bad.”

According to Langley, there is still a possibility of a trade show of sorts for the LLCEO Class of 2020. The LLCEO is working with the ALMH Market to bring the students into the Saturday morning market in the near future. LDN will post if and when that is able to happen.

[Nila Smith]